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Oregon Football

UO athletic budget rises

The increase mostly reflects debt service on construction projects

The University of Oregon athletic department’s budget for 2009-10 will be around $65 million, according to athletic director Mike Bellotti, an increase of $11 million from 2008-09.

The increase reflects a debt service payment of about $10 million for ongoing construction projects including Matthew Knight Arena. And it provides a significant early challenge for Bellotti.

“My job is to make sure that we balance that budget,” Bellotti said Monday. “That’s a state mandate. I will hopefully lead us into greater fiscal responsibility. Not that we haven’t been, but we need to be very concerned with that in the future.”

He said he plans a combination of cuts and fundraising.

Last month, Bellotti said he had asked department heads to identify cuts of up to 10 percent from their respective budgets, though he hoped the cuts wouldn’t go that deep. Bellotti declined Monday to disclose the amount of cuts he’ll require.

“We’ve cut ‘X’ amount out of the budget and we’re still looking to cut more,” he said. “You’re all of a sudden deciding, ‘How are we gonna do that?’ And is it something that’s hopefully not invasive to the players and coaches that we can handle through operations and by doing business more efficiently.”

Bellotti, who retired as football coach last spring, officially became athletic director July 1, replacing Pat Kilkenny. But his first full day in the office was Monday.

Bellotti said after budgeting, his immediate priority will be “fact-finding,” learning the ins and outs of the department.

“I’ll spend the greater part of the next six months really trying to understand in greater detail how we work,” he said, “where we need to focus our energies, how we can balance the budget, continue to look at new revenue sources, continue to provide our student-athletes and our coaches with the best opportunity to compete in their chosen field.”